diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go b/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
index dcf1e9dbacc..c1b38795338 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ const (
 	CgroupManagerOperationsKey   = "cgroup_manager_latency_microseconds"
 	PodWorkerStartLatencyKey     = "pod_worker_start_latency_microseconds"
 	PLEGRelistLatencyKey         = "pleg_relist_latency_microseconds"
+	PLEGDiscardEventsKey         = "pleg_discard_events"
 	PLEGRelistIntervalKey        = "pleg_relist_interval_microseconds"
 	EvictionStatsAgeKey          = "eviction_stats_age_microseconds"
 	VolumeStatsCapacityBytesKey  = "volume_stats_capacity_bytes"
@@ -124,6 +125,14 @@ var (
 			Help:      "Latency in microseconds for relisting pods in PLEG.",
 		},
 	)
+	PLEGDiscardEvents = prometheus.NewCounterVec(
+		prometheus.CounterOpts{
+			Subsystem: KubeletSubsystem,
+			Name:      PLEGDiscardEventsKey,
+			Help:      "The number of discard events in PLEG.",
+		},
+		[]string{},
+	)
 	PLEGRelistInterval = prometheus.NewSummary(
 		prometheus.SummaryOpts{
 			Subsystem: KubeletSubsystem,
@@ -246,6 +255,7 @@ func Register(containerCache kubecontainer.RuntimeCache, collectors ...prometheu
 		prometheus.MustRegister(ContainersPerPodCount)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(newPodAndContainerCollector(containerCache))
 		prometheus.MustRegister(PLEGRelistLatency)
+		prometheus.MustRegister(PLEGDiscardEvents)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(PLEGRelistInterval)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(RuntimeOperations)
 		prometheus.MustRegister(RuntimeOperationsLatency)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
index 4ae4bf0ad8b..bce9c7ea20e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
@@ -265,7 +265,12 @@ func (g *GenericPLEG) relist() {
 			if events[i].Type == ContainerChanged {
 				continue
 			}
-			g.eventChannel <- events[i]
+			select {
+			case g.eventChannel <- events[i]:
+			default:
+				metrics.PLEGDiscardEvents.WithLabelValues().Inc()
+				klog.Error("event channel is full, discard this relist() cycle event")
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
index 2e972ed4521..860ff2934b8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	testContainerRuntimeType = "fooRuntime"
+	// largeChannelCap is a large enough capacity to hold all events in a single test.
+	largeChannelCap = 100
 )
 
 type TestGenericPLEG struct {
@@ -43,6 +45,10 @@ type TestGenericPLEG struct {
 }
 
 func newTestGenericPLEG() *TestGenericPLEG {
+	return newTestGenericPLEGWithChannelSize(largeChannelCap)
+}
+
+func newTestGenericPLEGWithChannelSize(eventChannelCap int) *TestGenericPLEG {
 	fakeRuntime := &containertest.FakeRuntime{}
 	clock := clock.NewFakeClock(time.Time{})
 	// The channel capacity should be large enough to hold all events in a
@@ -50,7 +56,7 @@ func newTestGenericPLEG() *TestGenericPLEG {
 	pleg := &GenericPLEG{
 		relistPeriod: time.Hour,
 		runtime:      fakeRuntime,
-		eventChannel: make(chan *PodLifecycleEvent, 100),
+		eventChannel: make(chan *PodLifecycleEvent, eventChannelCap),
 		podRecords:   make(podRecords),
 		clock:        clock,
 	}
@@ -157,6 +163,65 @@ func TestRelisting(t *testing.T) {
 	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
 }
 
+// TestEventChannelFull test when channel is full, the events will be discard.
+func TestEventChannelFull(t *testing.T) {
+	testPleg := newTestGenericPLEGWithChannelSize(4)
+	pleg, runtime := testPleg.pleg, testPleg.runtime
+	ch := pleg.Watch()
+	// The first relist should send a PodSync event to each pod.
+	runtime.AllPodList = []*containertest.FakePod{
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "1234",
+			Containers: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c1", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+				createTestContainer("c2", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+				createTestContainer("c3", kubecontainer.ContainerStateUnknown),
+			},
+		}},
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "4567",
+			Containers: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c1", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+			},
+		}},
+	}
+	pleg.relist()
+	// Report every running/exited container if we see them for the first time.
+	expected := []*PodLifecycleEvent{
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerStarted, Data: "c2"},
+		{ID: "4567", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c1"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c1"},
+	}
+	actual := getEventsFromChannel(ch)
+	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
+
+	runtime.AllPodList = []*containertest.FakePod{
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "1234",
+			Containers: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c2", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+				createTestContainer("c3", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+			},
+		}},
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "4567",
+			Containers: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c4", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+			},
+		}},
+	}
+	pleg.relist()
+	// event channel is full, discard events
+	expected = []*PodLifecycleEvent{
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerRemoved, Data: "c1"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c2"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerStarted, Data: "c3"},
+		{ID: "4567", Type: ContainerRemoved, Data: "c1"},
+	}
+	actual = getEventsFromChannel(ch)
+	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
+}
+
 func TestDetectingContainerDeaths(t *testing.T) {
 	// Vary the number of relists after the container started and before the
 	// container died to account for the changes in pleg's internal states.